A Charming Spell
by InfiniteSet
Summary: No one outside of the Bei Fong estate knew about Toph's existence, but the reasons behind that aren't the reasons you might believe. **Not REALLY on hiatus anymore, but updates will be late.**
1. More Sinned Against than Sinning, Please

**A Charming Spell**

By InfiniteSet (無限集合)

A/N: This prompt was a challenge placed at the Avatar: The Last Airbender Challenge Forum by Emote Control.

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><p><em>Prologue - More Sinned Against than Sinning<em>

To someone who sees nothing, does black exist? Or do blind people truly see... nothing? The only way a person who sees can explain nothing is an infinite void of nothing but color, but to a blind person there is no color, there is no form, there is no void, no beginning, no end- nothing.

An Earthbender is someone who can take this nothing- this formless, colorless, non-void nothing- and make it into something. Well... to be honest, that is what Earthbenders were once. They were the creators of form once, long ago.

To someone who creates form, sight is useless. You could say a true Earthbender must be blind, but only if you apply this antiquated definition of an Earthbender. But if this definition is the true definition of an Earthbender, then the most powerful Earthbender has to be blind to the newly formed world so that they can create anew.  
>-<em>Chikyū no Sakusei<em>

_...  
><em>

"Is there nothing we can do?" The candle flicked and shadows danced across the walls. One shadow spoke to another, its voice low and hushed.

"I don't think so... not until the child is born, anyway." Was the reply.

"And we do nothing until then?" said a third shadow, it's voice trembling. Another flicker made the shadows all become one blob of opaque darkness and separate just as quickly. Perhaps in doing so, they traded with each other; Maybe they exchanged the secrets only shadows knew or maybe they just traded pieces of themselves.

"We have no choice. Anything we do now might seriously endanger you and the child. When it's born... then..."

"I have to agree with the Master. We'll get an excellent physician. I promise."

"But... if the child is born... we could hurt it! We could end up maiming in the worst possible way! And then what...?"

"I don't want to do anything to hurt our child, but in the end this will aid it! And in case... in case it dies..." The voice faltered, floundering for the right words.

"The child will live." The last voice said confidently. "And we will make sure that it is healthy and strong. And it will be the world's strongest Earthbender."

"...I'm worried."

"We're all worried, but the three of us will manage this. You know we can, don't you?" Two shadows mingled and did not separate. It was not a trick of the light that made them join, rather it was force of will. "The child, our child. He'll live."

A short, quiet laugh followed. "It could be a girl."

"Then she'll live. She must. She's a Bei Fong, after all."

"...Of course. Our child will live..." The voice was wistful, faraway. "And be the strongest Earthbender."

...

Had you been in the room, deep within the Bei Fong estate, where Lao, Poppy and Yu sat, poring over old scrolls, you might have thought it sweet. Sheets were strewn this way and that way, all about child-rearing and giving birth. You might have thought the expecting parents were worried about having their first child, that they were trying to ensure that their daughter was a bender, or perhaps that they had suspected a defect and were trying to fix it preemptively.

Amongst all those rolls of paper lay one specific text, separated from the others. It is the oldest scroll that the Bei Fongs own, quite like a family heirloom. It is called _Chikyū no Sakusei_ and in it, many things have been written about the nature of Earthbending, from its creation to the extent of its power. But this scroll doesn't start with the creation of Earthbending within humans. It starts with the world being molded from a shapeless, formless... nothing. It meanders for a while, bordering on religion to explain the placement of the original benders and water, but finally it speaks of the first Earthbenders, the Badgermoles, who worked with the Dragons and the Sky Bisons to create the world. It says, almost verbatim, that it was their blindness that made the Badgermoles so powerful.

There is no reason to read such a text; it is after all, an old book filled with only speculation about how things came to be. Only a few copies were created and most of those belong to old, Earth Kingdom families who have forgotten about it. But the Bei Fongs never forgot that book and its theories. At least not Lao, whose father had been hoping for a blind child and was disappointed with his perfectly healthy son.

Has it occurred to you yet, why the Bei Fongs were in this hidden room that night?


	2. You're Not Above My Suspicions

**A Charming Spell**

By InfiniteSet (無限集合)

A/N: I would like it if people reviewed. Not just for me, but in general. In my case, I might not be the nicest author you've ever run into and I may be short when I write author's notes, but I am also not the world's most prolific and fantastic writer. If I don't get feedback, I can't improve and I can't gauge your reaction. I think almost every author on this website needs reviews in the same way, so if you're reading the story and you like it... then leave me a review. SokkasBeard was kind enough to review me and for that I must thank them. So thank you very much for your review, SokkasBeard; It made me happy that you liked what I've written.

One other thing... I'm sort of stretching the truth in this chapter. I guess for the next chapter I'll stick a little piece in my author's note about it, but I understand how some parts of this could be considered unrealistic. In the scope of things, I figured this was the best route. Anyway... as a conclusion to this Author's Note, I'll tell you that I probably won't write all this much in an author's note ever again.

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><p><em>I – You're Not Above My Suspicions<em>

From the moment she opened her eyes in the morning to the moment her head touched her pillow, Cephira was plagued by thoughts of insubordination. She was sure that there was something wrong with her; in fact, she was positive there was. No… she _knew_ there was. Previously, these kinds of thoughts would've been banished to the back of her mind, but now she was constantly thinking of escape. She knew, though, she couldn't escape her fate. She was duty bound. The Mistress, Lady Bei Fong, was pregnant. Cephira wasn't old enough to be considered a midwife, but for some reason, the Mistress had chosen her for the job. She hadn't given Cephira a clear reason. Instead, all she'd said was to read up on childbirth.

There was something strangely intimate about having to help give birth to a child, Cephira thought, but that wasn't saying that she wanted to do it. When she'd been given the duty, the other women—particularly the ones around Cephira's age—started making her do a lot of work. She could barely sleep and it wasn't helping that she was spending her nights reading scroll after scroll on midwifery. Had she been chosen for a job she could actually do, Cephira wouldn't have minded the extra work. But this was a whole different game she was playing and the stakes weren't her job, but a newborn baby's life! She needed someone's help, but she found that help was an elusive woman desperately skirting about corners when Cephira called for her. The older women told her exactly what to do, but she couldn't glean enough information from them and she didn't have their experience. The other girls, the ones with higher status but no experience with childbirth or midwifery, assumed that Cephira would be promoted to the child's head nurse and jealously left her some of their work to do. Assuredly, Cephira would not be able to birth this baby; she didn't even know how to practice for such a thing. Was no one going to save her? Surely the Master would put a stop to it, Cephira had thought. It was only right. A nineteen year old who hadn't even had sex yet couldn't possibly know a thing about birthing babies.

But the projected date for the child's birth inched closer and closer and Cephira's thoughts grew more and more rebellious. She was scared. She was nervous. Perhaps most importantly, she was alone. There was no one to console her, to make her feel as though she could actually pull this off. If she ran away, it would be easier. But deep down, she knew she couldn't run away. The Mistress was counting on her; she had to do her best.

She tossed and turned restlessly. Why would anyone pick her for such an important job? Why? When there were so many others to choose from, why would the Mistress pick Cephira?

There was nothing she could do but close her eyes and pray for death the next morning. But she knew she'd wake to see the next day. She always, always did.

…

Tears streaked down Poppy's face and she clutched her husband's hand, nervous and straining and hoping that she'd already given birth so that this wretched pain would be over. Further away, the nervous looking midwife dutifully took her place between Poppy's legs, her dark green eyes wide and questioning.

Yu watched all of this in trepidation, hoping for the best possible outcome.

"M-Master…" The midwife mumbled, "I… err… I don't know what I… I mean, what do I do?"

"Surely you've done reading on this!" Lao reprimanded her immediately.

"…Yes… Yes of course…" She mumbled, though Yu could see her eyes begging him to reconsider. When Lao said nothing, the young girl's already crestfallen expression crashed down another peg. She determinedly set her eyes back to the juncture between Poppy's legs, seeming as if she was hoping for the strength to do this right without killing the child.

Poppy let out a strangled cry and the girl clenched her hands into fists—once, twice, three times—before she seemed absolutely relaxed. Yu raised his eyebrow in surprise. He hadn't expected her to relax. He'd thought she'd be stiff and unyielding the entire time. All the same, things didn't need to go exactly the way he had seen them in his head as long as they followed the same general outline of what he wanted. Even if they strayed slightly, he'd managed to find a Water Tribe Healer from the North and offered her food and shelter away from the Fire Nation if she aided with the baby's birth.

The child was born with few complications. It was a girl in the end, a girl whose eyes were squeezed shut, but Yu couldn't wait. Before she could open those eyes of hers and be tainted by the formed world, she needed to be blinded. The midwife held up the child, nameless and wailing, and Yu shared a look with Lao then. Poppy was sobbing quietly, but she seemed resolute as well.

"...Cephira." Lao said, as the midwife went to hand the baby to Poppy. "...It is your first time... no?" He asked.

The girl nodded mutely, her green eyes flooded with relief and unshed tears. Yu could see from the way she regarded the baby that she'd thought she would fail initially and now that the baby was born, she was relieved.

"You didn't wash the baby's face," Lao said idly.

She looked questioningly at him. "I'm sorry, I..." She said, nervously.

Lao rose his hand, waving off the apology. "It's fine, but please do this," He motioned to one of the changing tables in the room, on in particular. Yu looked over at the table waiting for the child. He'd asked a Water Tribe Healer to wait outside for this very moment. He had no choice.

At first, the young midwife hesitated, gazing at him with her tear-filled eyes, almost as if she was going to object. Lao squeezed Poppy's hand and didn't look at the midwife or the baby, but this only seemed to further the girl's confused and hesitant reaction to Lao's request. In the end, she came to a conclusion and looked at the baby, who was wailing loudly. The look on the girl's face was downtrodden and heavy. Yu didn't really understand it, but she was wasting precious time! If that child opened her eyes, even for a second, then the formed world would take hold and she couldn't fulfill the destiny she was needed to fulfill!

To his relief, the girl took the baby away, towards the table that lay in wait. She was relaxed, but the atmosphere in the room was tense. Yu swallowed heavily.

She set the baby down and observed the table, her hand finally reaching for the flask that Yu had set there himself. His heart raced and his hands clenched and unclenched, as hers had done before she'd helped birth the little girl. But he did not feel relaxed, even as the girl poured some of the contents into her hand and poured it onto the baby, forehead and eyes first. The girl's hesitation came a moment too soon, it seemed. She shuddered, as if, perhaps, she had been privy to a cool breeze.

Their screams came together, a twin cry. The midwife recoiled slightly, and then, seeming worried about the baby, went searching for something to stop the baby's disfigurement. But then the pain from her melting hand seemed too much and she collapsed on the ground, clutching her wrist and sobbing. Poppy shrieked, perhaps realizing what was happening—even though Yu had told her exactly what would happen—and Lao let go of her hand and rushed over to the baby, whose screams had stopped. Had they killed her? Was she dead?

The room erupted into shouts, worried and angry shouts that mirrored the feelings Yu had felt for the entire birth, but Yu simply let the Water Tribe Healer in and directed her to the baby. He was calm… focused. Poppy's eyes were wide with worry and even Lao looked desperate. It meant they were inexperienced, was all. But now they had experience for the next time, just in case. Yu watched the Healer work on the baby, her hands still and calm. The Water Tribe woman looked absolutely terrified as if, perhaps, she couldn't save the child in the end. Meanwhile, the midwife clutched her wrist and cried until she was hoarse.

When the healer was done with the baby, she turned to the midwife immediately. Yu didn't care about that girl. He snapped, "Well! What's wrong? Is the baby alright?"

"...She's been blinded..." The woman said, slowly. "I can't heal the blindness." She hesitated. "…It might not have been caused… by the acid."

Yu stared, wide-eyed, at the baby. Had she been born that way... or had they made her blind? It didn't matter.

They had, in the palms of their hands, the golden ticket. The strongest Earthbender in the world had been born.  
>…<p>

When the world was formless, the other elements could do nothing because they too had no form. When the original benders appeared, each tried to create form. By creating form, it was silently agreed that they could create new life. Each creature went off to create the form of the new world, that they might also populate the world with their new life.

The dragons created a large ball that was bright and hot. This large ball was too dangerous for the sky bison and the Badgemole to live on, so it was banished somewhere far away. It's heat reached out, seeming never ending.

The sky bisons created an invisible form, but it was plush and warm. It was habitable, but the badgermoles could fall straight through it and the dragons and sky bisons grew tired holding themselves up inside it. It was not good enough to be the form of the world, but it was not banished. The warmth was nice and prevented the heat from the dragon's world from being too hot.

The badgermole created earth. Earth, which was hard and soft, yielding and unyielding, was livable for all creatures—badgermole, sky bison, and dragon. They combined their forms and created the world and its surroundings. As the world slowly came into being, water came, fertilized the Earth, and aided the growth of new life.

The earth is the father of life; it provides the foundation upon which life may begin. All other things are secondary to earth. Without the earth, the other elements have no meaning.

-_Chikyū no Sakusei_


	3. You're Lamb And Serpent, Just Like Me

**A Charming Spell**

**Author: **Infinite Set

**Author's Note:** So, I think I'm dumb. Am I dumb? I put a chapter into the story out of place. Sorry. This is the correct chapter.

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><p><em>II- You're Lamb and Serpent, Just Like Me<em>

"Mistress." Poppy turned her attention from her flowers to the nearby maid. The slightly overweight woman held Poppy's two year old, Toph, out towards Poppy. "She needs her mother." Toph babbled to herself, swinging her hands around.

Poppy gazed at Toph, recoiling slightly. It wasn't that she hated Toph- far from it. She loved her daughter very much. It was that Toph's condition frightened Poppy beyond what she felt was normal. Toph hadn't shown any proficiency in bending yet- and being that she was two, this was expected- but when she did, if she really was as powerful as Yu claimed she would be... well, Poppy was afraid that her daughter might learn the truth about her blindness. It wasn't like she could ask the midwife whom Lao had fired or the healer who had left, but even still Poppy feared her daughter's strength. After all, the whole point of blinding Toph to start out with was to create new forms... and it was very possible that Toph's new form could put Poppy, Lao, and Yu in great danger. "I see. Thank you, Tzulin."

The maid bowed after Poppy took Toph and left the room. Poppy looked down at her daughter. Toph let out a couple of nonsense phrases, which Poppy smiled at.

She was adorable, Poppy admitted. Had she not been blind, she would've been the perfect daughter. The blinding, though... there was no way around it. It was necessary for finding the strongest Earthbender, but it put Poppy and Lao in a bad place. If Toph was unable to bend... then she would essentially be useless. A blind girl couldn't really useful in a successful trade business like that of the Bei Fong family. Poppy was sure she could teach her daughter all the finer points about being a good wife, but in the end she couldn't see Toph doing all that well if she couldn't bend. She hoped Toph could bend, though at the same time she feared it with every fiber of her being. If Toph somehow found out what they had done, perhaps... well, perhaps Toph might conspire to harm them.

There was a way around that, Poppy was sure. But what exactly it was, she was completely unaware. She rocked her infant daughter, her mind wandering. That maid and that healer were still alive which meant that there was a possibility, however small, that Toph would figure out that Lao and Poppy had blinded her on purpose. Poppy had let Lao and Yu take care of most everything up until this point, so she decided that she would protect Toph, so that if it came to blows, Toph would never strike them. She would remember, wouldn't she, the devotion that her mother gave to her...?

Poppy looked down at her daughter with a gentle smile. She would have to proceed with caution, but she believed, deep down, that she could do it.

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><p>It only occurred to Poppy when Toph turned three. That was when the young girl showed that she could bend. Poppy had been proud, initially, but then, a couple weeks later, she found herself fearing... something. In the beginning, when she couldn't figure it out, she moved around as she normally would- not quite wary, but not quite usual either. Slowly though, something began to dawn on her.<p>

Put simply, Poppy wasn't safe.

For a time, she would be. If she was lucky, she would always be. But Poppy couldn't deny that there was a possibility- a chance- that she would be in danger. If Toph turned out the way that they'd planned from the very start, she was in trouble. After all, even though there was no way for Toph to learn about what they had done... Poppy couldn't shake the feeling that one day, she would figure it out. Or someone would tell her. Like, for example, Yu.

Lao trusted him, Poppy knew that. After all, Lao couldn't bend and needed an expert by his side. Yu was that expert. While Poppy agreed that Yu was very strong, she knew why he was so willing to aid Lao in his quest to make the Bei Fong family the strongest Earthbending family and knowing that made him all the more untrustworthy. He saw Toph- and had always seen Toph- as an endless wallet or a gold mine. Poppy was sure that if he wanted to, he could turn Toph against them. After all, if they made him upset, all he'd have to do is tell Toph that Lao and Poppy had blinded her. And Toph... if she was truly powerful, would be able to nullify them without mercy... if she chose.

Poppy herself could bend- and very well. She didn't have the expertise of Yu, but she wasn't bad. She wasn't confident, though. She couldn't beat Yu on a good day, even though she was at an advanced Earthbending level, very close to being a master. If Toph really did become the strongest Earthbender... If Toph learned of their crime against her... Poppy would also be unable to stop her. And what would Lao do? Depend fruitlessly on Yu, who was the one most likely to turn on them? The Water Tribe Healer had long since been on her way, with whatever suspicions she held towards the family, and the maid who had aided them... Well, Poppy knew her hand wasn't completely fixed and that she ran away shortly after Toph's birth... So that girl could have been anywhere, really. The point was that they weren't really much of a threat- and Toph would have no reason to believe them- but Yu, who would be teaching her, was now in the perfect position. If he wanted, once Toph was strong enough, he could take the Bei Fong's hard earned success.

Poppy could do nothing to Yu. He was in a dangerously good place, and she was certain that he knew it. But she wouldn't let him get away with Toph.

She didn't know how Toph's temperament would turn out, but she knew how to adjust it. If Toph came to fear her mother in the most debilitating way, then it was possible that she would never even be able to attack Poppy or Lao at full strength. That meant that Poppy needed to adjust her parenting to make Toph afraid to cross her. She needed to make Toph submissive.

Poppy could only think of one way to do that.

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><p>For those who wish to create out of nothing <em>something<em>, an extraordinary power is needed. Something so strange, so illogical, so unreal that perhaps only Gods could hold this power or perhaps this power has been locked away for eternity in the paws of the Badgermole. What this ability is and whether it exists is unknown, but it is speculated that knowledge of current forms only hinders it's growth. A new form cannot be a combination of old forms and having knowledge of old forms furthers their use. In a formless world, new forms must be created in order to survive...Such is the reasoning behind the saying that true Earthbenders must be blind, for sight plays a role in the knowledge of form and blindness forces part of that knowledge away.

In order to be sure that there is no influence from old forms, all things must be as they once were. To us now, this is unfathomable... impossible. However if the setting were to become as close to what once was as it possibly could, then- and only then- will a new form be created, a new form that will eclipse the old ones in their magnitude and power.

_-Chikyū no Sakusei_


	4. It's More Than Just Superstition

**A Charming Spell**

**Author:** InfiniteSet

**A/N:** So yeah, this took like... a million years. Sorry. The writing style previously employed for this task was a bit daunting for Toph's entrance as a speaking character... I mean it was downright impossible to get the three-part chapter to work that way. Then I had to combine two different chapters I wrote to get one good one and...man. I don't want this to be all that long... I can't really write multi-chaptered things...

Also, for the reviews thus far thank you all very much. EmoteControl, who requested this story, actually liked what I've written thus far, which made me really happy!

Finally, not that I think anyone would try this, but don't...pour acid on babies. I mean... Toph would've been dead IRL, most likely... given the types of acid there are and the solubility with water... Anyway, I stretched the truth for the story's sake.

_III-It's More Than Just Superstition_

Toph struggled to her feet. Sometimes, if she stayed down, the beatings got worse. It was better to endure, because she didn't really have the control yet to move the boulders that painfully smothered her when she stayed down.

"Again," She heard from somewhere to her left. Her legs trembled with the effort to stay standing- and the ground was shaking again, so maybe that played some part in this- and the dull throbbing of pain that shot up and down her arms and legs spiked when she went back to a defensive stance. "A Master Earthbender sees without seeing, Toph."

She didn't respond because she wasn't sure she'd be able to talk without causing the blood that was pooling in her mouth to spill, but she had a lot to say about that particular statement. "Seeing", which was something she couldn't really understand because it seemed almost abstract, without actually "seeing" sounded impossible. She used to ask about it, when she was smaller, but the response was so baffling she learned to just leave it alone. Suffice it to say she could not "see" in any sense of the word, though she was usually aware of her surroundings by feeling around. Apparently seeing was just a method of viewing the world.

For Toph, the world was a confusing disconnect between what was and what seemed to be. She understood, in one sense, that she was living in a world with other people and things in it, but from the moment she was able to understand them, two of the three people who spoke with her told her that she didn't exist in a world that had other people and things in it. Part of what confused her- no, most of what confused her- was that she was unsure about where she was in this world that either was or wasn't. She'd been told that she existed in one place and not in another, but somehow she was interacting with that other place, which meant she must've existed there. Yet she was told that she didn't. But how could she know about things in one world when existing in another? There was no answer to that. But she was an outsider in this other world, the world she interacted with. She lived in a different world, she'd been told. She lived in a Formless world.

She'd asked this many times, but her Formless world was something that she didn't actually identify with. She knew, in a loose sense, what a form was. She knew that forms surrounded her and yet she was told that she lived in a Formless world. Often when asked, one of the three people who spoke to her would tell her many things about what a form was- but most importantly, they would always say, "A Form is a building block upon which the world begins." Then she'd be told her world was Formless and would continue to be that way until she created her first Form. "Something that you can see," they told her. The world was going to be made up with what she "saw", which she had never understood really. Sometimes she was asked what she "saw" around her and, puzzled, she didn't know how to answer. There were many things around her that she could feel... but they never accepted that as an answer.

The first boulder that hit her- well, more like the twentieth or twenty-fifth or so, but it was the first since she'd gotten up- made her choke on the blood and the bile in her throat. So she had to exhale that metallic nauseating liquid and the smell made it even harder for her to stay standing, never mind that those boulders were still flying at her, nicking her arms, slamming into her knees. Air was scarce and always came with a side of filth- sweat and dirt and blood and vomit- that she swallowed only because if she didn't, for sure she would perish. This barrage went on forever, or perhaps it wasn't that long at all- Toph had only recently learned about a concept called time and it was even more confusing than "seeing" was.

She was still standing, though barely, when she realized that she was alone again. Perhaps she'd lost consciousness? She wasn't sure. But she couldn't move... everything hurt so badly she couldn't quite make sense of it. The loneliness was welcomed because when there were others around, she was always in pain.

There were three others and she only knew them by 'Mother', 'Father', and 'Master', and of those three the worst was Mother and the best was Father. In as much as she enjoyed being alone, her mind was a scary place and she wanted to talk to someone. Mother never really spoke as much as she just threw rocks at Toph and told her she wasn't good enough yet and Master only ever taught her about Earthbending. Father had to talk to her in order to teach her about all the other things she was supposed to know... mostly he just taught her how to speak correctly and talked a lot about what he called politics. He taught her about logic, which apparently would be able to help her when she was older, which she applied almost everyday when she found herself unable to move from the various aches and pains that came from practicing Earthbending. He also spoke about something he called "philosophy", which seemed to just be thinking a lot. Toph liked philosophy and logic a lot more than anything else she was supposed to be doing. Father was nice because as far as Toph could tell, he couldn't bend at all so he couldn't hit her. Still, Father tended speak in a way that was hurtful. But she didn't care as long as someone talked to her. The loneliness was unbearable just like having others around was unbearable, but they were unbearable in different ways. Loneliness at least wasn't nearly as awful as bending.

Bending was something that Toph had come to hate with a steaming, seething vehemence that caused her headaches. It was all she was good for, though. That's what she'd heard anyway. She could only bend and outside of that she had no purpose. There was something wrong with her, something that made her useless except for that fact that she could bend. She wasn't sure what it was that was wrong with her because Father and Master never told her and Mother only really ever said things like, "Instead of thinking of worthless things, create new forms." She'd learned that forms were created through bending and that she somehow had the ability to do such a thing- to create new forms- and that lead her to think that perhaps all the pain was necessary.

Someone was there, suddenly, talking to her. "...Toph." They finished. This voice... Master. She opened her mouth to talk, but she couldn't find any words to say and she couldn't get her voice to come. "You don't need to talk," He snapped. "You just need to move."

Her body responded slowly, but at least this time it responded. Once she'd tried to move only to find that she couldn't and Mother had yelled at her for days. Also she had to go without food for a couple of days because no one would feed her and she couldn't make it across the room to get her food. Even when she did manage to reach the food after about two days of starvation and exhaustion, she found that it was all old- because no one had changed it- and she'd had to dunk her bread into her stagnant water to make it even chewable. She'd had to flat out throw out some other things- the usually warm sticky substance she didn't know the name of had wriggling things in it and she was skeptical about eating those and there was some kind of meat that she couldn't stomach the smell of and nearly vomited on when it touched her tongue. Needless to say she didn't want to go through that again, because there was no lower hell than being hungry and aching all over.

She wandered over the place where she slept because lying down sounded like a great thing to do at the moment and was stopped by Master's voice. "You need to be bandaged, so don't lie down yet." So she waited, because this was one of the things Mother, Father, and Master did not make her do herself. Master bandaged her quietly, then scolded her for a while about defensive maneuvers and how the foundation of Earthbending was the ability to solidly defend while attacking or attack while defending, and then left. She collapsed onto the ground, softened by her Earthbending, without a second thought. She didn't sleep- she wanted to but every now and then she'd register pain when she was moving to get comfortable and it woke her up completely- and once again she was alone with her thoughts.

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><p>"Toph, today's lesson is important." Toph nodded at this, settling in her seat. He body was throbbing in pain, but she could handle that if it meant she'd get to talk to someone. Father's voice was as calm and measured as always. "Do you remember yesterday's lesson?"<p>

"Yes!" Toph said, after a thought. The last lesson had been odd...not about manners, but about bending. She'd thought she could trust Father not to talk about bending, but it looked like she was wrong.. "Yesterday we learned about all the different kinds of bending and their opposites. Earth and Air... Fire and Water." She smiled, pleased with herself.

"Good girl," Father praised. "Of course of all of these types of bending, which is strongest?"

Toph didn't hesitate, because that was easy. "Earthbending."

"Do you know why that is?"

"Why?" Toph frowned now. She'd never thought about it. She'd just been learning Earthbending for her entire life, so she just assumed that Earthbending was the strongest. Besides, outside of just raw power, earth was constantly surrounding all things. She'd learned that life came and returned to dust, and dust was an earthly thing, was it not? "Um," She said, thinking hard. "I...don't really know." She admitted.

Father made a clicking noise, the kind she made when she was disappointed with Toph. "Earth is a powerful element because it encompasses all things. It is perfection, you see."

"Perfection?"

"Toph..." Father paused, leaving Toph in a confused haze. How was earth perfection? And was she supposed to figure this out from her previous lesson? Was there something in the last lesson that made this... obvious? "Earth is an element that defends and attacks at once."

"Defends and attacks..." Toph frowned. Her body seemed to ache worse upon hearing those words, the same ones that Master constantly repeated to her. "But so does any element," She thought aloud. Another clicking noise made her wish she kept her thoughts to herself.

"Water is defensive. Fire is offensive." Father said. "...and Air no longer exists."

Toph frowned. That was something she was confused about too. A long time ago, apparently, all the Airbenders vanished. Father didn't say much about it, but seemed as though he didn't care one way or another. "But... when it did, didn't it also defend and attack at the same time?"

"No," Father said, as though he was brushing off the idea entirely. "Air is a cowardly element. It does not defend and attack. It simply dodges."

"Dodges?"

"Did you forget yesterday's lesson?" came an immediate scolding. Toph inwardly groaned and waited for him to continued. "You could say that both Earth and Air are countering elements. But while Earth is immovable, Air is flexible. That is why they are also weak." Father sounded upset. "An Earthbender must be strong. Dodging... trickery. That is the way of the meek."

"And Earth isn't meek?" Toph asked, although she wasn't particularly sure what 'meek' meant.

"Earth is assertive. It is bold." Toph frowned and tried to digest this. She was sort of aware of what assertive meant, and she knew what bold was. "Some would say it is domineering."

Toph wondered if it was worth it to ask for definitions to these words. She stayed quiet, thinking, and then finally said, "Is that why we have to come up with new forms?"

"We?" Father said. "No Toph. Only you."

"Only... me?"

"You alone can do this task. So you mustn't fail."

"I don't understand." She said. She always said this. After all, she didn't know anything about anything. _And this isn't really helping. _She thought restlessly. "Why is it only me?"

"Toph, you are the vessel through which the power of the Earthbenders must shine through. And all eyes are on you to come forth and create a new Form." Toph had heard this so many times in her life and yet it was still as foreign as the first say she heard it.

"What I don't understand. What's a Form? How do I make one?" Father clicked his tongue again and Toph's protests died on her tongue.

"This is something I cannot aid you with."

_But why is it me?_ Toph asked petulantly. _I don't know anything. I don't even live in a world WITH forms. So how is it that I am going to create form from nothing?_She heard Father's voice and tuned back in.

"...by this, we mean of course, absolute perfection." Father said. "Do you understand?"

"Yes," Toph lied. Father started talking again and Toph drifted off. _If I die, then, is Earthbending... done?_ She wondered with a start. The rush of unbridled glee that followed this thought was startling, though Toph seemed to have controlled her reaction. There was always talk about war, about fighting. But Toph had never really thought about the implications of creating forms. _But if I did create one, a new form... then, wouldn't we use it in war? To win? And if I don't make one, will we lose?_ Toph paused her overactive mind for a second, rolling this thought about in her mind. _If I don't make one..._ She repeated to herself. It meant that everything depended on her, didn't it? _So I can't mess up, because if I do then Mother and Father and Master... they'll all go away. To war. Or maybe they'll just die? _She couldn't say she was happy with that ending. _Maybe being lonely wouldn't be as bad if I wasn't always hurting...? No...I still won't be able to talk to anyone. How many other people are there? There mustn't be that many if I've never met any... So, if Mother and Father and Master leave..._ She tried not to think about it anymore, but a question popped into her head and she rolled it around before finally deciding to ask. "...Sir?" Toph interrupted.

Father's voice, a calming even sound, came to an abrupt stop. Then, "What is it?"

"...What if I can't do it?"

"Can't?" Father asked. He laughed, a harsh bark that made Toph wonder if she ought've just let him continue talking. "There is no "can't". You simply will."

"But what if it's impossible?"

"Nothing is impossible." Father said. "If you give up now, then you must want all of us to die."

Toph balked at that. She had entertained the thought of giving up a few times after brutal Earthbending sessions, but she didn't want them to die. She couldn't interact with their world...she had to rely on them. Even if she wanted them to die, she couldn't let them die. "No!" Toph said, firmly. Father's voice was as pleasant as ever, though. "I don't want that!"

"Oh?" Father chuckled. "Then stop with your foolish "what ifs" and focus on your lessons."

"..." Toph fidgeted. "Sir..." She said, slowly, "When I create a new form, then what? What happens next?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well... I mean, what if I make a form that's... useless? Or what if I make the wrong one?"

He sounded disapproving. "If you make something useless, then you'll die." She said. Toph balked. "Of course," He went on, apparently not noticing Toph's horror, "once you become old enough you will be sent to war."

"But I"

He interrupted, "Do you know the method to create a new Form?" He asked.

"Well... I..." Toph mumbled.

"We have been studying the ancient texts to help you. And yet here you are, ungratefully assuming you can't do it," He scolded. "The key to creating a new form is epiphany."

"What's an epiphany?"

"It is like a discovery..." Father trailed off, seeming thoughtful. Toph paid rapt attention. She wasn't able to read the ancient texts- whatever they were. Still, if there were texts that had any ideas about how to get her out of her current situation, she was all ears. _But I don't really get it,_ Toph thought. _A discovery is all I need?_"But an epiphany is more like a discovery brought on by something."

"Oh." Toph said. That didn't sound too bad. It was a little vague... but not bad. She could have an epiphany right now, if she knew how to do it. Then it would all be over! "So I just have to have an epiphany?" She asked, growing a bit excited.

"Hmm." Was the response. "Yes, I suppose you just have to have an epiphany."

Internally Toph squealed with glee. "Okay. So how do I do that?"

Father clicked his tongue. "You're rushing." He said. "Though I cannot blame you. If you fail, you condemn the rest of us to death." He shifted in his seat.

_That's why we should be rushing, isn't it?_ Toph wondered. The long silence that followed those words frightened her. Toph wasn't really aware of very many people. From her childhood on she hadn't met many and she wasn't that old now. She didn't know many things, so she couldn't say, but based on the way her parents talked there were lots of other people out there, some of them who couldn't even bend. Toph was their savior. She was a beacon of light in a dark world. _If we don't hurry, then they'll die. It'll be my fault. We have to hurry._When she voiced these thoughts, Father laughed.

"No. This is precisely why we must take our time. Rushing makes way for error. Errors lead to failures. I am trying to prevent you from becoming a failure. You should try too."

Toph nodded furiously. "But how do I have an epiphany? How do I create a new form?"

Father chuckled warmly. "If I knew the answer, Toph, I would tell you." He said. "That's the nature of an epiphany, anyway. It is like a surprise."

"But what if it comes too late?!" Toph worried.

"That is up to you. If you don't study hard and work, then you'll fail."

_That doesn't mean I'll be successful if I do study hard and work..._ Toph thought. _Studying is painful...but if I don't study, I'll die. And if I do study, I'll probably die anyway. Why me?_"...Do you think I can do it?" She asked.

"..." Father was quiet. "...I know you will do it." He said, finally. "You wouldn't let us down."

Toph swallowed heavily. Somehow these words had failed to assure her that she could do this thing that she was meant to do. No... it made it worse. Father was concerned with so many people all the time... if he said that he didn't want Toph to let some collective "us" down... _It's not just Mother and Father and Master... it's everyone Father is protecting too. _She was scared. But she didn't speak up again. She just let Father's words wash over the trembling empty shell that was her body as her mind wandered over and over what would happen when she failed.

_Condemning them all to die._

* * *

><p>A Form is the beginning of all things. There exist many things, but all must be shaped by a Form, and only by combinations of Forms can new things come into existence. All Forms are created using the elements as building blocks, however, the elements exist separately from the Forms. Earthbenders create Form, however there have been few Earthbenders who can create an altogether new Form.<p>

If one can imagine a Form, then it is created from two Forms that already exist. A new Form must be an Unimagined Form; it must be Formless. In this way, once one becomes a part of the Formed World, it is difficult to create something that was once Formless.

In the end, Earthbending is an ever growing process, one which is much more powerful and wondrous than other forms of Bending. An Earthbender with a powerful core can shake the foundations of the Formed World and the people who live on it and can change even the rotation of the sun and moon.

_-Chikyū no Sakusei_


End file.
